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Africans Rising launches African Liberation Week of Mobilisation 2023

May 24, 2023

By Samuel Ouma

Hardi Yakubu

The 2023 African Liberation Week was officially launched at the International Press Centre on Monday, May 22, in Accra, Ghana.

Hardi Yakubu, Movement Coordinator, presided over the launch and declared officially open the one week of actions and events across the continent and diaspora from Monday, May 22 to Sunday, May 28.

The campaign, themed Borderless Africa, aims to promote the free movement of Africans across the continent. It demands the abolition of visa requirements for intra-African travel, the elimination of all border barriers, and the widespread adoption of the African passport, including the availability of it to our diaspora family.

Other sub-themes of the campaign include the fight against economic injustice, the pursuit of economic justice, gender justice, climate justice, energy, poverty, and food insecurity.

During the week, there will be many activities, including peaceful marches in about 10 African countries, including Zambia, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

In Ghana, there will be a peaceful demonstration near the Wonjuga border in Chereponi, as well as a solidarity football match between Ghana and Togo.

There will also be concerts, town hall meetings, film screenings, social media campaigns, and poster campaigns. The actions will happen in 54 countries, 48 in Africa and 6 in the diaspora.

“We have about 500 actions that have been registered and planned for this week with some beginning today and others proceeding throughout the week until Sunday the May 28,” said Yakubu.

According to Mr. Hardi, the borderless campaign demonstrates the African people's yearning to unite and create their real African identity within their geopolitical framework and reclaim its lost grandeur amid the comity of countries.

The coordinator said the African continent is entangled in neocolonialism, which has become the anchor of geopolitical, financial, legal, economic, and cultural institutions formed to ensure that the structure of engagements and interactions between oppressed and oppressor remains extractivist.

He said that even though Africa is the chief producer of materials that feed the world's industrial economy, many people in the continent still remain poor.

"It is necessary we pick on these moments to reflect and act in our own best interest which is to unite our forces as Africans. African Unity is the only panacea to rescramble and recolonization that is being unleashed upon us in the 21st century despite the best efforts of our forebears to make sure this did not happen," he said.

While appreciating the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Mr. Hardi said it is people who move goods.

"The full benefits of the AfCFTA can only be achieved if it is accompanied by free movement of persons," he added.

Simultaneously, he urged all African states to ratify and implement the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, saying that numerous studies have proven that the free movement of Africans can enhance trade and employment and catapult the African economy to greater heights.

The African Union adopted the Free Movement of Persons Protocol, which requires 15 countries to ratify before it can come into force. However, since 2018, only four countries have ratified it. They include Rwanda, Niger, Mali, and Sao Tome and Principe.

He decried over the lack of political will dividing the continent, making it prone to exploitation.

The African borderless campaign coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Organization of African Union, currently known as AU, set to be celebrated on May 25.

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